I have a lot of trouble apping characters whose canons/storylines are finished. I'm pretty sure this is why I've now failed twice at playing Misato, why Blue keeps giving me trouble, and why I could never really app anyone from Cowboy Bebop ever (except maybe Ed).


This was all prompted by the fact that... the more I play Shiki in Sabra, the more convinced I am that there's no way she would work in Camp or any other "plotless" setting. She was apped from before BAD SHIT goes down, because after that all of the relevant plot points are solved and the story is over. Apping her post-canon would mean there is more flexibility for characterization, but also no big motivations or anything left for her to work for. WHICH IS NOT NECESSARILY A BAD THING, but it's just... not as interesting to me, I guess.

I don't think I'm explaining myself, LET'S TRY THIS WITH MISATO, who is a character everyone knows and I can talk about stuff without spoiling anyone. When I apped her in Camp, I took her from before SERIOUS REVELATIONS and also before Kaji's death, because there comes a point in Eva where everything pretty much goes down the drain and then all of Misato's barriers go down and she just becomes a huge emotional wreck. Apping her like this? Would make her unplayable— or perhaps not unplayable, but really no fun at all. And apping her post-canon would just mean she's dead, yeah sure, maybe Eva had a "happy" end, but there really isn't anything much left to do for her beyond... post-mortum chilling. WHICH COULD BE REALLY FUN, PROBABLY, but not without canonmates who actually know she's dead and who could potentially lead into deliciously bittersweet threads.

But.

Apping her mid-canon while knowing what the end of her story will be like, means I need to be super careful about what kinda stuff I get her into because SHE CAN'T GET TRAUMA'D TOO BAD OR SHE WILL CHANGE HER CANON'S CONTINUITY ONCE SHE HEADS HOME. A-And this is something that will most likely never come into play ever, but it still bothers me in a "I AM PURIST HERE ME ROAR" way.

(... Hilariously, and also using another Gainax series as an example, I am perfectly okay with having Yoko get into all kinds of different plots because TTGL is a canon about DEFYING EVERYTHING and FIGHTING THE POWER and hell, she deserves a happy life with Kamina in some distant island where she is a teacher and they have adorable children and gfhjklfg.)

It's like... I don't know, IMAGINE PLAYING SPIKE SPIEGEL AFTER THE END OF HIS CANON!!1 Bittersweet, yeah, and he'd probably have a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT OUTLOOK OF EVERYTHING AND HE WOULD BE SUPER ZEN and... probably a completely different character. I can see the appeal in that, but for me it feels too much like cheating. COWBOY BEBOP IS PERFECT JUST THE WAY IT IS, IT NEEDS NOTHING MORE, ADDING "POST-CANON" STUFF WOULD JUST MAKE THE SERIES' END LOSE ITS BEAUTIFUL IMPACT.

So yeah, Shiki works awesomely in Sabra because she has a reason to be there and having her change is technically IC and a necessity (by the game's standards) and it is all super interesting and fun to me. Which makes me a huge hypocrite because Kara No Kyoukai is another canon that works wonderfully just the way it is and messing with its continuity should be an unforgivable sin, but... for some reason, in my brain, Camp is like "SURPRAISE MID/POST-CANON VACATION, YOU WILL GO BACK AND FIND NOTHING HAS CHANGED BACK IN YOUR WORLD" whereas Sabra feels a lot more like "WE ARE CREATING A NEW FUTURE, WHO KNOWS WHAT IT'LL BE LIKE, BUT PROBABLY GOOD BECAUSE THAT'S THE REASON WE'RE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE."

(This is also why it was completely possible to take Misato from End of Eva/post-canon when I played her there, because she would have a HUGE motivation to be there but the lack of memories would not make her unplayable and gjfdkglf).

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this anymore. APPARENTLY MY BRAIN IS SPECIAL AND WILL ONLY LET ME MESS WITH CERTAIN CANONS' CONTINUITY WITHOUT FEELING LIKE A TERRIBLE PERSON??? But I guess it helps in the sense that even if I don't have any CFUD apps planned in the near (or distant) future, I can now better decide whether apping a certain character is a good idea or not. :|a



Originally posted on 2009-11-18.